Nashville pastor goes from rock band to pulpit

Searching for calling led singer to ministry

May 1, 2013

Former Evinrudes' lead singer Sherry Cothran Woolsey is pastor at West Nashville United Methodist church. Along with her preaching, she has written and recorded a CD, called 'Sunland.' / Kathleen Barry / Submitted

The Rev. Sherry Cothran Woolsey said searching for her life's calling led her to Vanderbilt divinity school and eventually to the ministry. / Kathleen Barry / Submitted

The Rev. Sherry Cothran Woolsey said her ministry is based on hospitality. She invites people in and then lets God's grace work in their lives. / Kathleen Barry / Submitted

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Sherry Cothran Woolsey dreamed of being either a rock star or a missionary while growing up in West Tennessee.

She got close to the first dream in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the Nashville-based Evinrudes, a band that once opened for the Spin Doctors and the Goo Goo Dolls and had a hit with the song “Drive Me Home.”

Then the Evinrudes lost their contract with Mercury Records. The struggle of trying to make it in the music business took its toll and eventually her marriage and the band broke up.

“I just didn’t want that kind of life for myself,” Woolsey said.

Searching for her life’s calling led Woolsey to Vanderbilt divinity school and eventually to the ministry. Today the Rev. Sherry Cothran Woolsey is pastor of West Nashville United Methodist Church. Along with her preaching, she has written and recorded a CD called “Sunland,” with songs about the wild women of the Bible.

She’s also working on a book on the same topic, looking at the lives of biblical woman like Jael, who killed a Canaanite general with a tent peg, and Rahab, a prostitute who saved the lives of a pair of Jewish spies in the city of Jericho. Then there’s the unnamed woman from the Song of Solomon.

Woolsey said these characters show how God can work even in the lives of unconventional people.

“These women characters are playful and exotic, and they do some pretty outlandish things,” she said.

For a former rock singer, Woolsey is a fairly traditional pastor. She wears a robe and stole during services that feature organ music and hymns. That’s what her congregation is used to and it works for Woolsey, who says she’s not a big fan of contemporary Christian music.

When she was playing music, Woolsey stayed away from church. She was reluctant to bring her music into her ministry when she was named pastor in 2008. John H. Collett Jr., her district superintendent, said he encouraged her to bring all of her gifts, including her art, into the church. But at the time, she didn’t see how the two could fit together.

“I needed to learn how to be a pastor first,” she said.

That included spiritual tasks, like leading worship services and preaching sermons, but also the day-to-day concerns of raising funds for the budget and renovating the church building.

Her congregation is small, with about 100 members. Most services draw about 50 or 60 people. One of the congregation’s strengths is community outreach, said church member Malinda Wilson, a longtime friend of Woolsey.

Wilson runs a nonprofit called Reconciliation Inc., which has an office in the building, and works with ex-offenders when they get out of prison. She said the church has made her and the people she serves feel at home.

“I feel comfortable that if one of my people comes to the church, they will be welcome,” she said.

Woolsey said her ministry is based on hospitality. She invites people in and then let God’s grace work in their lives. That can be messy, she said.

As Woolsey became more comfortable as a pastor, her music came back. It started in sermons, where a few lines of songs would sneak in. Singing, she said, often works better than preaching.

“If I want to get people’s attention or calm them or make a strong point — singing always wins,” she said. “It has the ability to penetrate through the noise.”

Woolsey said she eventually gave in and began writing songs again. That led to her CD, which she finished last year, and now to a book project.

She has applied some of the lessons from her music life to the ministry. Both musicians and ministers have to be able to connect with an audience, she said. They also rely on people’s goodwill to keep the lights on.

“You have to keep it fresh and you have to keep it real,” she said. “But you also have to depend on that spirit that is moving in people to tell them to support you.”